The Oort Cloud: Crash Course Astronomy #22

From this episode, I have learned that asteroid belt, and comets, were heading to the outskirts of the
solar system. Out past Neptune are vast reservoirs of icy bodies that can become comets if they get
poked into the inner solar system. The Kuiper Belt is a donut shape aligned with the plane of the solar
system; the scattered disk is more eccentric and is the source of short period comets; and the Oort
Cloud which surrounds the solar system out to great distances is the source of long-period comets.
These bodies all probably formed closer into the Sun, and got flung out to the solar systems suburbs by
gravitational interactions with the outer planets. Sungrazing comets are a special class of comets that
come very close to the sun at their nearest approach, a point called perihelion. To be considered a
sungrazer, a comet needs to get within about 850,000 miles from the sun at perihelion. Many come
even closer, even to within a few thousand miles. On the other hand Sungrazing comets are a special
class of comets that come very close to the sun at their nearest approach, a point called perihelion. To
be considered a sungrazer, a comet needs to get within about 850,000 miles from the sun at perihelion.
Many come even closer, even to within a few thousand miles.

Meteors: Crash Course Astronomy #23

In this episode, I have learned the difference between a meteor, meteorite, and meteoroid. When the
Earth plows through the stream emitted by a comet we get a meteor shower. Meteors burn up about
100 km above the Earth, but some survive to hit the ground. Most of these meteorites are rocky, some
are metallic, and a few are a mix of the two. Very big meteorites can be a very big problem, but there
are plans in the works to prevent us from going the way of the dinosaurs. A meteor shower is a celestial
event in which a number of meteors are observed to radiate, or originate, from one point in the night
sky. These meteors are caused by streams of cosmic debris called meteoroids entering Earth's
atmosphere at extremely high speeds on parallel trajectories. Most meteors are smaller than a grain of
sand, so almost all of them disintegrate and never hit the Earth's surface. Intense or unusual meteor
showers are known as meteor outbursts and meteor storms, which may produce greater than 1000
meteors an hour.

Light: Crash Course Astronomy #24

In this episode I have learned that in order to understand how we study the universe, we need to talk a
little bit about light. That Light is a form of energy. Its wavelength tells us its energy and color.
Spectroscopy allows us to analyze those colors and determine an objects temperature, density, spin,
motion, and chemical composition. I also learned that the shorter wavelength has more energy and the
longer wavelength has smaller energy.